Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

The seminal symphony: how to compose an ejaculate

2013; Elsevier BV; Volume: 28; Issue: 7 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/j.tree.2013.03.005

1872-8383

Jennifer C. Perry, Laura K. Sirot, Stuart Wigby,

Plant and animal studies

Ejaculates are fundamental to fitness in sexually reproducing animals: males gain all their direct fitness via the ejaculate and females require ejaculates to reproduce. Both sperm and non-sperm components of the ejaculate (including parasperm, seminal proteins, water, and macromolecules) play vital roles in postcopulatory sexual selection and conflict, processes that can potentially drive rapid evolutionary change and reproductive isolation. Here, we assess the increasing evidence that considering ejaculate composition as a whole (and potential trade-offs among ejaculate components) has important consequences for predictions about male reproductive investment and female responses to ejaculates. We review current theory and empirical work, and detail how social and environmental effects on ejaculate composition have potentially far-reaching fitness consequences for both sexes. Ejaculates are fundamental to fitness in sexually reproducing animals: males gain all their direct fitness via the ejaculate and females require ejaculates to reproduce. Both sperm and non-sperm components of the ejaculate (including parasperm, seminal proteins, water, and macromolecules) play vital roles in postcopulatory sexual selection and conflict, processes that can potentially drive rapid evolutionary change and reproductive isolation. Here, we assess the increasing evidence that considering ejaculate composition as a whole (and potential trade-offs among ejaculate components) has important consequences for predictions about male reproductive investment and female responses to ejaculates. We review current theory and empirical work, and detail how social and environmental effects on ejaculate composition have potentially far-reaching fitness consequences for both sexes. techniques used in both humans and nonhuman animals to assist in achieving pregnancy through artificial means. the pool of resources that an individual has available to allocate to trait expression; influenced by both genetic and environmental variation. ejaculated seminal fluid. the relative abundance of components (e.g., sperm, Sfps, etc.) that comprise the ejaculate. the process whereby males mating with a mated female can take advantage of the ejaculates of her previous mates, enabling strategic reduction in one or more ejaculate components. material (usually edible) transferred from males to females before or during mating. a morphologically distinct sperm caste that is incapable of fertilization. a mating system whereby females mate with multiple males. the willingness of an individual to mate. a period after mating during which females are unreceptive to male mating attempts. Female refractoriness is often induced by Sfps in insects. male-produced fluid, usually containing sperm, ejaculated during mating. proteins produced in male reproductive organs and transferred in the ejaculate. competition between the sperm of two or more males to fertilize ova. the variable characteristics of an organism, including age, mating history, health, and parasite infection status.